Hungary Grand Prix as it happened

To get involved text us on 81111 with FORMULA 1 before your message. (Not all contributions can be used; UK mobiles only; network rates apply)

By Caroline Cheese

1515: OK folks, over and out from me. If you're in the UK, stay watching the live stream for the post-race forum, featuring Toyota pair Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli. You could also read
Andrew Benson's comprehensive report.
Not at the same time though. Your eyes will go funny. F1 packs up and goes on its holidays after this race. We return on 21 August for the European Grand Prix in Valencia.

1509: Brawn's lead in the constructor standings is now just 15.5 points, while Ferrari, who had such an awful start to the season, are up to third. Toyota fourth, ahead of McLaren.

Lewis Hamilton: "Maybe I can speak for all of us, but today was a sad day given what happened with Felipe. We miss him, wish him well and we all wish him a speedy recovery."

1504: I almost forgot: Kimi Raikkonen is still under investigation for that incident at the start when he collided with Sebastian Vettel. "I didn't notice that I had touched somebody," said the Finn, who also touched wheels with Lewis Hamilton. "I don't know what's going on. This is the first I've heard of it." Looks like Red Bull have escaped punishment for releasing Mark Webber straight into the path of Raikkonen at the first stops.

1501: Jenson Button's championship lead is cut to 18.5 points as Mark Webber moves up to second, 4.5 points ahead of Sebastian Vettel. It could have been so much worse for Button though. Rubens Barrichello, out of the points today, remains fourth. Lewis Hamilton 10 points puts him on 19 points in eighth.

BBC pundit Eddie Jordan: "I think this weekend has opened up the whole field. We now have five cars all capable of winning. That can only be a major advantage for Jenson."

Third-placed Mark Webber: "It's a bit of a surprise - we expected to be a little bit quicker. It was a pretty difficult venue for us. We knew we didn't have the advantage we had in the last two races. I'm pretty happy all in all. We're still very much a force."

Race winner Lewis Hamilton: "It's an incredible feeling after what feels like such a long time away. I'm just so proud of the guys. They never gave up, which is something very rare to see in a large group of people. We didn't expect to win - but the car felt fantastic. It's incredibly special to get back up here."

Seventh-placed Jenson Button: "After four laps my rear tyres were destroyed. I don't know why. I don't think we can blame the weather. We've got to be looking in other areas. Our car is not driving as well as it did at the start of the season. There's obviously an issue."

BBC pundit Eddie Jordan: "It was an amazing, unbelievable result. Hamilton is back. He's going to be Jenson Button's biggest ally at the end of the season."

1449: There goes the champagne. Kimi Raikkonen keeps the celebrations understandably subdued. Lewis Hamilton blows a kiss to his fans and they're off to the drivers' press conference.

1448: Lewis Hamilton leaps onto the top step in time to hear the British national anthem. He's shaking his head as if he can't believe it. This is what you call a rollercoaster season for the world champion.

1447: A hug between McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh and Lewis Hamilton. Whitmarsh celebrates his first win as boss, Hamilton his first since China 2008. "The second half [of the race] was very long for me," Whitmarsh tells his driver.

Lewis Hamilton to his McLaren team: "Woohoohoo. Great job guys, great job guys. This car is so nice to drive. Fantastic. You guys have worked so hard and I'm so glad we could do it. So proud of you guys. Thank you, thank you."

1443: Kimi Raikkonen is second, with Mark Webber completing the podium and leapfrogging team-mate Sebastian Vettel into second in the championship standings. The in-form Nico Rosberg is fourth for Williams. Heikki Kovalainen, Timo Glock, Jenson Button and Jarno Trulli take the rest of the points.

1442: Tears from Pussycat Doll as Lewis Hamilton takes both hands off the wheel and punches the air. Think he's quite happy. Hamilton's first win of the season and McLaren's first podium for 10 races.

1441: LEWIS HAMILTON WINS HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX

Lap 69: Martin Brundle has spotted Timo Glock closing the gap on fifth-placed Heikki Kovalainen. Just one second the gap now. But only one lap remaining.

Lap 68: Rubens Barrichello is right behind Kazuki Nakajima, who is in turn on the tail of Jarno Trulli in eighth. Going to take a massive effort for Barrichello to get in the points though.

Lap 66: Looks like Renault boss Flavio Briatore has had enough and he's off home. Er, Flav, remember Nelson Piquet? No? Third-placed Mark Webber sets the day's quickest lap with a 1:21.931. He is five seconds behind Kimi Raikkonen with five laps remaining.

Lap 65: Potential scrap for fifth. Heikki Kovalainen, in the other McLaren, has a slender 2.9 second lead over Timo Glock. Kazuki Nakajima is less than a second behind Jarno Trulli in eighth.

Lap 64: "Lewis Hamilton is coasting up front," says Martin Brundle. The world champion leads by 16.2 seconds from Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. We're heading for a McLaren-Ferarri one-two. It's just like 2008 all over again.

Lap 61: Timo Glock into the pits now - and everyone has made their second stops. The top eight: Hamilton, Raikkonen, Glock, Webber, Rosberg, Kovalainen, Glock, Button, Trulli.

Lap 60: 10 laps remaining and Jenson Button appears to be finding some pace as he clocks a 1:22.913. Timo Glock continues in third. When will he stop? Oh, hang on. Rubens Barrichello does make a second stop and he's out in 10th. Brawn have managed to get Button past Jarno Trulli and he is up to seventh. Could be a crucial point.

Lap 58: Jenson Button returns in 10th - and he's behind Rubens Barrichello, who appears to be on a one-stop strategy. Interesting when you consider the Nurburgring toys/pram incident.

Lap 56: Lewis Hamilton has a 17.2 second lead now. He tells his McLaren team he is going to turn his engine down. Not sure what the problem is, but his engineer isn't worried and tells Hamilton his "pace is good". Timo Glock is right up behind Kimi Raikkonen in second. Jenson Button into the pits...

Lap 54: Problems for Robert Kubica, who pits for a third time from 11th. Another poor race for BMW. Martin Brundle ponders whether Timo Glock really does have to stop for a second time. "Almost definitely," he concludes.

Lap 52: Lewis Hamilton leads by 16 seconds from Kimi Raikkonen in second. McLaren report that Heikki Kovalainen's front brake temperature is too high. "That shouldn't be race threatening for Kovalainen, but worth keeping an eye on," says Ted Kravitz. Kovalainen is sixth at the moment, but a net fifth as Timo Glock in third is yet to stop.

Lap 50: Webber in now and that's a much smoother pit stop. Can he get out ahead of Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen? He can. Quite easily, in fact. He should be still third after all the stops.

Lap 48: Nico Rosberg in for the softs. Mark Webber is already on those - and he will have the more effective super-softs for the final sector of this race.

Sebastian Vettel: "We know the reason for my retirement: in the first corner I had contact with Kimi. He hit my front left [wing]; that was also the reason why the pit stop took very long. All of a sudden it was game over and the front-left suspension gave up. The start wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst. It doesn't help when you have cars with Kers and then seven or eight cars competing at the first corner."

Lap 46: What am I on about? Raikkonen fourth. Lewis Hamilton in now and he takes on the harder compound tyres, which aren't working as well. But the world champion is out in front.

Lap 45: Kimi Raikkonen in now for the harder tyres. He struggles to find a gear, and is delayed by several seconds, but still gets out in fourth.

Lap 44: The McLaren team are out... for Heikki Kovalainen, who comes in from fourth. He is out in sixth in a Toyota sandwich.

Lap 42: "We need a few quick laps now," Red Bull tell Mark Webber. They need Lewis Hamilton to come out behind the Aussie after the McLaren driver's next stop.

From LordProsperity on 606:
"The race is now Lewis' unless he faces some problems. Kimi just needs to maintain or lessen that gap to grab a chance if Lewis faces problems."

Lap 39: Sebastien Buemi spins it coming into turn two. He returns to the track, but has to come into the pits. That will put his rookie team-mate Jaime Alguersuari in front of him in 15th.

Lap 38: Lewis Hamilton is told by his McLaren team that "this pace is good". He has a 7.1 seconds lead over Kimi Raikkonen. Mark Webber appears to have responded to the threat from Heikki Kovalainen, and has pulled out the gap to a second.

Lap 37: Heikki Kovalainen is on the tail of Mark Webber in third. Gap is 0.8 seconds. Nico Rosberg isn't far behind them. Webber is fuelled to go four laps longer than Kov - so the Finn will need to get past him if McLaren are to have two men on the podium.

Lap 35: Pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz says it was actually the front suspension to blame for Seb Vettel's retirement, which is his fourth of the season. "How many world champions do you see with that many retirements?" adds Kravitz. Lewis Hamilton leads by seven seconds from Kimi Raikkonen. The gap is coming down though. Mark Webber, Heikki Kovalainen, Nico Rosberg, Timo Glock, Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button complete the top eight.

Lap 33: Timo Glock makes his first stop at the end of 32 and returns in seventh behind Rubens Barrichello, who is the only man yet to stop.

Lap 32: Another desperate message from Jenson Button to his Brawn team: "Guys, I'm already getting oversteer. How, how can this car be so bad at the moment?" Button is ninth, and nearly four seconds behind Jarno Trulli - and to think this was the race in which Brawn were meant to return to the party.

Lap 30: End of race for Sebastian Vettel, who is pushed into the Red Bull garage. That's the third retirement of the race. Lewis Hamilton leads by 6.2 seconds from Kimi Raikkonen. Timo Glock in third ahead of Mark Webber and Heikki Kovalainen.

Lap 29: Something wrong with the rear suspension for Vettel, who is now back out but running in 17th. Jenson Button has been passed by Jarno Trulli in the stops. At least Button has seen his championship rival Vettel struggling.

Lap 27: "Something is broken, something is broken, I can't control the car anymore." The words of Seb Vettel, who has to come into the pits from eighth. Awful race for the German.

Fernando Alonso: "The start was great, unlike the last two grands prix. The team did a lot of work on that. But we had some troubles with the tyre and the fuel pump [causing us to retire]. It could be something with the rim of the wheel, maybe the frame was loose. This is motorsport. We go to Valencia and we try again."

Lap 25: Jenson Button is coming in for his first stop - and asks his Brawn team to stay on the super-softs. "We know the car doesn't work on the prime," says the Brit. He doesn't sound happy at all. Button is now behind Giancarlo Fisichella.

Lap 23: Kazuki Nakajima pits from fourth. Lewis Hamilton is warned by his McLaren team to look after his tyres. The world champion leads by 2.8 seconds from Jenson Button, who is yet to make his first stop.

Lap 21: Nico Rosberg emerges from his first stop in front of Mark Webber - but the Aussie comes right back past him. Webber now 11th. Appears the fuel hose wasn't fully out of the car when the lollipop went up. Red Bull could be in trouble for releasing the Aussie right into Raikkonen's path.

Lap 20: Lewis Hamilton into the pits from the lead. Webber is overtaken by Timo Glock. Sorry, I may have cursed Webber by tipping him.

Lap 19: Kimi Raikkonen into the pits - and is followed by Mark Webber. MORE DRAMA! Webber's pit-stop goes wrong and as he finally gets going, he is inches away from colliding with the Ferrari as they emerge from the pits.

Lap 17: Fernando Alonso retires. Too much damage to his Renault for him to continue. Heartbreak for him and Renault, who had high hopes of a podium finish - and that battle with Lewis Hamilton was about to get very interesting. Alonso shrugs his shoulders at the camera as he walks away from the pits.

Lap 16: Lewis Hamilton leads the Hungarian Grand Prix, and is setting quick laps. He has a growing gap of 3.6 seconds from Mark Webber. Kimi Raikkonen is third ahead of Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen.

Lap 15: Fernando Alonso returns to the pits, but he is now 18th and last. Adrian Sutil has indeed retired. He explains: "After the problem with the water temperatures the engine went really high. We tried to do a start but after a few corners we knew we had to retire very soon. The temperature was too high and it was out of control. We have a new update for Valencia and fingers crossed it will work. We will be better there."

Lap 12: Something very, very wrong with the front right wheel - it's now bouncing across the track and Fernando Alonso is on three wheels as he crawls back to the pits. Race ruined for Alonso.

Lap 11: Fernando Alonso comes in even earlier than expected for his first stop. Another set of super-softs for the Spaniard and he's out in 10th. Something wrong with the front right tyre though and some debris flies off...

Lap 11: "Guys I'm taking it so easy but the rears are graining," says a rather desperate-sounding Jenson Button, who lies eighth and 3.1 seconds behind Seb Vettel. Kimi Raikkonen will be investigated following the shenanigans at the start - but only after the race.

Lap 10: Gap from Alonso to Hamilton approaching one second now. Mark Webber, in third, has put his foot down and is the quickest man on the track.

Lap eight: Martin Brundle has spotted some tyre degradation on Fernando Alonso's Renault, which would explain why he is struggling. Gap down to 2.1 seconds. Sebastian Vettel is stuck behind Heikki Kovalainen, but Ted Kravitz reports that Red Bull are hoping to get him out in fourth after the pit stops.

Lap seven: Lewis Hamilton is very quick, setting fastest laps as he chases the leader. Fernando Alonso, who will stop on lap 12, leads by 2.5 seconds.

Lap six: Adrian Sutil may be back... Here's Holly Samos: "His water temperatures were very high so they brought him in to the garage to try to cool them down. They're hoping to get him back out shortly."

Lap five: Lewis Hamilton presses his magic Kers button at the end of the pit straight and attacks Mark Webber - and he's got him! Hamilton weaves his way past the Aussie at turn two and the world champion is now second. A Pussycat Doll jumps up and down excitedly.

Lap four: Seen a replay of the start and Kimi Raikkonen nudges both Lewis Hamilton and Sebastien Vettel coming into turn one. Absolute disaster for Adrian Sutil. The Force India man is out already.

Lap two: Still waiting for a replay of the start. Seb Vettel is reporting possible damage to his front wing - think he collided with Kimi Raikkonen. Jenson Button gets past Kazuki Nakajima and is back up to eighth.

Lap one: Great start Fernando Alonso. Shocker for Seb Vettel, back in eighth from second. Lewis Hamilton briefly up to second but is re-taken by Mark Webber at turn two - and the Aussie is now after Alonso. Jenson Button down to ninth, Rubens Barrichello back in 18th?!

BBC Sport's Andrew Benson at the Hungaroring: "Lewis Hamilton's girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger is here. She popped in to see Lewis in his room in the McLaren 'Brand Centre' for about 10 minutes before he went on the drivers' parade this morning, and had a quick chat with his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen before being taken off in the direction of the McLaren garage by Hamilton's father Anthony. For those who are interested in these things, the Pussycat Dolls' lead singer was wearing a full-length, off the shoulder dark blue dress with gold patterns on the skirt. It's one of those very expensive ones that contrives to be both floaty and clingy at the same time."

BBC Sport's Sarah Holt at the Hungaroring: "If you cast your mind back to Friday's practice commentary, you may remember a mention of the VIP and media access road to the Hungaroring which is named Bernie Avenue. The route has been christened in honour of F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, who brought the Grand Prix here in 1986. Before the F1 world championship was established, a park in Budapest played host to its first GP way back in 1936 - when Bernie turned six years old."

Martin Brundle on BBC1: "It's all about down to the first corner - but let's not forget turn two. There's a big concertina effect there. Can Alonso get out in front and build himself a gap which could bring his strategy into play later on?"

1250: "If we make a good start, both drivers should be in with a good podium chance," says McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh, who adds that Hamilton and Kovalainen will need to move over to the clean side of the track to make the most of their magic Kers button.

1248: The Ferrari team hold up a pit-lane sign that reads:" Forza Felipe. Siamo con te" as the Hungarian national anthem is played.

1246: Eddie asks Flavio Briatore if Renault have done a deal with Red Bull to lock out the front row. "Of course we have," says Flav. Think he was joking. Or not. I don't know.

1246: Hilarity on the grid as Martin 'n' Eddie bump into Bernie 'n' Flavio. "Who are you?" says Bernie to Eddie. "Why haven't you signed the Concorde agreement?" is the response. "I can't write," jokes Bernie. "I thought you couldn't pay." "That as well." They should have their own show.

Mark Webber on BBC1: "I'm certainly in the hunt [for the win]. It's going to be interesting into turn one with the Kers cars, and the Williams is no slouch off the start either."

Jenson Button on BBC1: "We did well on Friday, when the weather was similar to today. I think we can get close to those guys at the front. I'm not sure Alonso will be in the mix come the end of the race."

1240: Now then, while one Spaniard starts at the front of the grid, another will begin his maiden F1 race from the back. Toro Rosso debutant Jaime Algerusuari, though, has one small goal... "I've been asked to settle into a comfortable rhythm, not worry about anything and finish the race. Nothing else."

1237: Blimey. Martin Brundle is accompanied on his famous grid walk by Eddie Jordan. This could be dangerous.

From Derek via text on 81111: "Just to have Lewis duelling with Alonso would be good. But I agree it would be great to see Lewis on the podium again."

1227: Pat Symonds confirms that Nelson Piquet Jr has exactly the same car as Fernando Alonso this weekend. The Brazilian could manage only 15th in qualifying, while Alonso is of course top of the pops. There are rumours that this could be Piquet's last race for Renault, and even poor old Nelsinho
has admitted he doesn't know if he'll see out the season.

Renault engineer Pat Symonds on BBC1: "We came here to be aggressive. We knew tyres would play a big part. They are marginal here, and three stops is not a silly thing to do."

From anon via text on 81111: "I think it's about time we saw a McLaren on the podium. Come on Lewis!"

1221: Jenson Button seems to be in optimistic mood. He'll be hoping Lewis Hamilton can do him a favour today. If the Kers-boosted McLaren can get past the Red Bulls at the start, he could hold them up, allowing Button - who starts a lowly eighth but with a tank-full of fuel - to take advantage.

Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni on BBC1 "Many of us grew up with Felipe, he's been with us since he was 10. Everyone is thinking about him. We really want him to be OK and then we'll see what will happen for the future. For now, all our thoughts are with him."

Jenson Button on Twitter:
"Beautiful sunny day here at the Hungaroring... Track temp is rising! Think we can have a good race today."

1210: BBC1 coverage is under way...

BBC Sport's Sarah Holt at the Hungaroring: "Ferrari will not be replacing Felipe Massa in today's race. The sport's rules say a team can change a driver "any time before the start of qualifying" and that "additional changes for reasons of force majeure will be considered separately". Although Massa's crash was certainly caused by a "greater force", the team haven't considered running nominated reserve driver Marc Gene, most likely out of respect for Massa. Gene and Italian Luca Badoer are Ferrari's reserve drivers while seven-time Michael Schumacher is also on the books in an advisory role. And just so you know, any team can use up to four drivers in one season."

1159: Bit of a serious start to the day eh? I make no apologies for that, but we are going to try to turn our attention to today's race - although we'll of course bring you any news about Massa as soon as we hear it. The Brazilian would have been 10th on the grid, but in his absence, Sebastien Buemi and all the drivers behind him will move up a place.

1152: Another interesting line from Brundle's column: "I don't like to use the term 'freak accident' because there's an inevitability about periodic fatal incidents in motor racing and in life." That seems to the the thrust of many of your texts so far. Hard to see how the sport can be made safer. There has been talk of providing more protection around the cockpit, but as
David Coulthard says in his BBC Sport column,
the open cockpit "is the essence of single-seater racing".

1144: Massa's accident came only six days after 18-year-old Henry Surtees was killed when he was struck by a loose wheel during an F2 race. Martin Brundle was at that race and was standing next to Henry's father and motor racing legend John Surtees when the accident happened. "Henry's accident seems so unfair," writes Brundle
in an eloquent and heart-wrenching column for the Sunday Times, which I recommend everyone reads.
"John Surtees survived the sport's most perilous times. Yet his son is taken in an era where motor racing is infinitely safer and in a category in which it's difficult to conceive how the cars could be made much safer."

From Pete in Stoke, via text on 81111: "I think I speak on behalf of all F1 fans when I send my best wishes to Felipe and to wish him a speedy recovery."

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali speaking on Sunday morning: "The condition of Felipe is stable, there were no complications during the night. Now we are waiting to do another CT scan - after that we will have more information, and this is what we can say at the moment. We are thanking all the medical staff here (at the AEK military hospital) for the operation, they are working very well."

1137: Just in case you haven't heard the latest, Massa's condition is being described as "stable". He has been sedated since having surgery yesterday and will be woken today before having another brain scan. The FIA
will conduct an investigation into the incident.

1130: Hello. Nineteen drivers are preparing for race 10 of the 2009 season this morning. The 20th is recovering in hospital
following emergency surgery as a result of a skull fracture.
Get well soon, Felipe Massa. Very soon.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.